Surfs UP! Oh, Georgia..when will you end

Happy Easter!  We decorated some eggs and ate a bunch of candy.

After our busy social scene in St. Augustine, we headed to an anchorage we like on the Ft. George River in Georgia.  It is by one of America’s oldest plantation homes.  The windy weather ended, making for some good surf (we hoped!)

We took the dinghy Raptor and surf board to an inlet south of Little Talbot State Park, where to our surprise the beach was easily accessible.  The surf was wrapping around the point perfectly.  Grant used his bisecting longboard we keep in the v-berth.  It has two sections that clip together with a rod in the middle for support.

Grant got a few good rides in.  Amelia took a few tries for fun, but still can’t seem to stand up yet!

Grant also had a close call with the authorities this week.  After his surf session, we were back at our anchorage.  We were the only boat in a remote river, so Grant commenced showering in the cockpit.  Minutes later, a Sheriff’s police boat zoomed up.  They started shouting about how Velocir was dragging at anchor.  Then, they realized Grant’s precarious position and yelled, “Hey man, you got pants on?”  Grant replied, “no, you guys have perfect timing”  (Note: extremely effective tactic to keep law enforcement at a distance…also true in this case).

Amelia came up from below and saved Grant.  “You were way over there this morning,” the police boat insisted, pointing up current from Velocir.  “Yes, but we have out some good scope and as the current moves our boat will too,” explained Amelia.  (Just to clarify, we were not dragging). Then, they asked where our boat was registered, where we were going and where we came from.  All simple questions, and soon they were on their way.  Grant finished his shower with no more interruptions.

We headed the next day to Fernandina Beach, a cute beach town.  On the radio we heard someone calling Sandpiper.  It could have been anyone, but sure enough it was our friends from Georgetown!  We walked around town and had dinner with them.  It was fun to catch up on where we had both gone since Georgetown.  They have been ambitious, sailing offshore quite a lot.

The next day we visited Cumberland Island, one of our favorite stops last Fall.  This time the beach had even more shells!

We saw two groups of wild horses for the first time on Cumberland Island!!

Now we are trudging through Georgia.  Six days of motoring, with a little genoa every now and then helping us keep our speed up in the current.  It’s a lot of marshland and curvy rivers.  Every inlet we see at least one US Border Protection boat is zooming around, but they never seem to bother anyone.